Why Oil & Energy Companies need to invest in a corporate LMS for On-Job-Training

Energy industry is unique in its operation where most of its employees are situated in remote locations of production sites. Functioning in an emergency sector where production determines the cost, the industry is always under considerable pressure to reach optimal levels at all times. The technology used for exploration, extraction, refinery, and distribution is ever evolving and the employees need to be continuously trained on the latest tech for continued production.

 

The learning environment is also unique, as here the associates need hands-on guidance to learn to use the machinery, energy storage processes, energy management etc. For this, they usually first turn to their managers and supervisors who are experienced professionals. Peer-to-peer learning accounts for almost 55% of corporate training and it facilitates one of the most effective forms of learning – On-Job-Training.

 

Research led studies show that on the job training strongly affects creativity as it teaches problem solving skills, achieving organizational objectives and improves work quality. According to a Rand Corporation report, nearly a quarter of energy organization have high-priority occupations that require long-term on-the-job training. The report also suggested that employers seek workers with cross-cutting knowledge areas and skills. Employers want workers who can solve work-based problems, and who understand the fundamentals of administration and management. These cross-cutting knowledge areas and skills were more often reported as in demand by employers than occupation-specific ones. Understandably, these skills are not particularly taught as a part of any curricula in colleges because of which employees have to learn these at their jobs.

 

While informal learning from supervisor or colleagues is a great way of acquiring relevant knowledge, it lacks standardization where one team might be ahead of the others depending on the team lead they have. This is where the L&D teams of energy companies need to step up and figure out how to provide optimal on-job-training to all their employees so that they come up to the same level. It is important to keep in mind that the workers in this industry are continuously navigating difficult terrains, hazardous work conditions and trainings for them is not only about performance but safety & health as well.

 

Role of a Corporate Learning Management System to Deliver On-Job eLearning to Oil and Energy Workers

 

Accessible Anytime, Anywhere

 

The modern cloud-based, mobile learning management system is a boon for any industry looking to provide training to their remote workforce. The energy industry can benefit from the same by delivering standardized training to their workers located at the production sites. The LMS can extract information regarding job roles by integrating with the HRMS and automated workflows can be set to deliver the application-based training to perform a particular task. Similarly, periodic refresher training can be delivered via the LMS on important processes of drilling and production facilities, distribution logistics, risk & safety measures and more.

 

Cost Saving and Training Optimization

 

There are various kinds of industry trainings that the manager level employees have to go through in the energy industry. Courses on wholesale markets, contracts, retailing, emerging markets technologies, competition with alternative energies, environmental, safety and security issues etc. are topics for working professionals that organizations have to train their employees on. This is a huge cost for the L&D teams as it includes physical classroom trainings, providing with learning material, and then evaluation. Providing remedial training for the ones who do not perform well during evaluation incurs additional cost. Shifting this entire model to a digital platform and providing blended learning through online classroom trainings on an LMS along with eLearning material can prove to be highly cost-effective. Evaluation can also be done through an LMS with built-in On-Job evaluation feature and also remote proctoring. On an LMS, training materials are continuously available for the learner to pick up or refer to while actually performing a task or whenever they want. This is more helpful in the learning process than the back-to-back classroom sessions which becomes too heavy for the learner to comprehend in one go.

 

Tapping into Internal Talent

 

As discussed earlier, quite a bit of learning in the energy industry is peer-to-peer. The LMS gives a brilliant opportunity to create learning resources from the experience of senior employees. By using them as Subject Matter Experts, the organization can create a video library within the LMS which can be used as a training repository on critical processes of handling machinery or exploration or safety etc. The social interaction feature on a learning management system can be used as a platform where the employees post their queries and get answers from veterans creating a healthy learning culture within the organization.

According to statistics, only 1% of a work week is dedicated to learning. For a process heavy industry such as the oil, gas, and energy this is even. Having a learning management system to provide on-job training to the employees will enable them to access training more easily and at the time they need creating safer work environments and better business results. At G-Cube we are continuously innovating with all that can be done for better learning with technology, and we would love to talk to you more about the various possibilities of a Learning Management System. Write to us.

Post-Pandemic, Business Continuance in Airline Sector means Upskilling with Corporate eLearning Solutions

 

I run the risk of stating the obvious when I say, along with tourism, aviation industry is one of the most severely impacted industries in 2020. The global bodies of the industry IATA, ACI and ICAO, all agree that it is not going to go back to 2019 level, any time before 2024 and holds true for both business travel and leisurely trips.

A global survey conducted by Gartner, Inc. found that 88% of business organization all over the world mandated or encouraged all their employees to work from home as the virus started to spread at exponential rates. Furthermore, about 97% of the organizations immediately canceled all work-related travel. Tourism, though opening up in pockets, is yet to revive full scale. The fear of contagion on a flight is higher among masses as there is hardly another industry which offers services that involves intermingling with so much and so many strangers.

With the pandemic passing over, there is a new situation where airlines have restructured themselves to operate under heavier umbrella of regulations and survive the bad time with as less employees as possible. This changed environment obviously needs the associates and employees to develop new skills, inculcate new habits and be ready for multi-tasking. So, organizations will have to not only transfer new knowledge but also help their employees to change themselves and respond to the new situation with the same ease and effectiveness. And obviously this will not be possible without an equally effective corporate eLearning solution. In the current situation there are three things that can help the aviation industry meet the business challenges.

Prepare Employees for Multi-Tasking

Job role specific trainings are already there but when your cabin crew has to manage certain duties of the ground staff, then they will need extensive training and concurrent training compliance management or the same. Managing training for the airline employees who do not usually work from a ‘office’ as such and are at times traveling across the globe is a complicated task in general. A learning management system can integrate with the roster management system and pull data on an individual’s schedules and job role. Based on the same, training can be assigned through automated workflows making the process system based leaving the administrators free for more important tasks.

Expedite Digital Proficiency among Crew

Industry experts all over the world have suggested and the aviation industry has also accepted that heavy digitalization is key to safe and efficient business for the airlines. The operating model has been largely modified. Today we have touchless check-ins, RFID bag-tags, contactless and paper-less immigration, and boarding processes. This has rendered the need for large passenger concourses and check-in areas redundant and released more monetizable commercial spaces.

However, this also means high level of digital proficiency among the ground staff. Though using a smartphone is normal for most, learning to use technology for a job they have been doing manually, all of a sudden, is not easy. A scenario-based learning program deployed through a compatible learning platform will help them learn faster, retain the information longer and also use the knowledge effectively.

Reducing Training Non-Compliance

Aviation is largely a regulated sector and post-Covid the rules have increased manifold. Other than regulations issued by global health organizations like WHO, ICAO has its own separate guidelines for airport, aircraft, crew and even cargo. Add to this the government issued mandates in each different country.

Thus, managing the training compliance requirement of current times, needs intelligent & automated solution. A Learning Management System with an authorization feature can help manage the complete process of compliance. Starting from identifying the required compliance or certification for a job role through machine learning technology, the system shall track the progress, status and notify as and when required. This reduces the scope of manual error while managing this complicated process on excel sheets or via emails.

Though the pandemic is the biggest disaster for the Aviation industry, but they have proved their resilience time and again before during 9/11 and other global tragedies. However, revival of the aviation industry is also a must for the global economy to revive. If you are looking to find out more about the benefits of eLearning solutions and technology for the industry, you may visit our repository. To talk to a learning consultant at G-Cube, please write to us and surely we shall use our 21 years of experience to build the best solutions for you. 

Teach Your Retail Employees to Draw Customers Back with Enterprise Learning Management System

While technology dependency has been growing in all industries for years now, the face of retail industry changed after Amazon started its multilevel eCommerce business surpassing Walmart. By 2015, consumers had become so internet friendly that brick and mortar stores were facing a crisis quite unknown to their business till date. However, they were still popular because it is intrinsic to human nature to trust their tactile experience more than just audio-visual while making a purchase. Also, buying from a store was always faster than ordering online. But the pandemic changed it all. 85% Americans have said that Covid-19 impacted their shopping habits in some way, including reduced overall spending, increased online shopping, and increased use of delivery services, reported by Statista.

 

But things are taking a brighter turn. While a recent McKinsey reports, 60-70% adults are now omnichannel consumer with both sales in brick and mortar stores and eCommerce growing, an eMarketer survey projects that 81% customers are willing to go back to the store.

 

Growth Market specialist, Bharat Jain at G-Cube suggests, ‘The trends are positive and retail owners should jump to the occasion. Training plays a very important role in this phase of adaptation which will enable the employees to keep up and draw the customers back to the stores.’

 

 

Promoting Your Employees as Brand Ambassadors

 

While the willingness to return to stores is increasing, the affinity towards online shopping is not reducing. Retailers have to step up to encourage the willing customer to take an action and that is possible only by giving them a great experience. As your in-store employees are in charge of the customer experience, this is where your employees can become the true ‘brand ambassadors’.

 

 

Train to be an Expert than a Sales Support

 

A very important part of the online shopping experience is the abundance of information about the product, usage and also comparison charts which is completely unavailable at the stores. Retailers have to fill up this gap by training their employees to become product experts. Providing a continuous learning environment with small nuggets of information based on the category of product they are handling through an automated workflow on the mobile LMS shall help the employees retain knowledge better. The information is also available to them at the point-of-sale where they can not only provide demo of a particular item but compare the features while giving sales advice to the customer.

 

 

In-person Search Optimization

 

While looking for an item on the shopping app, a customer gets choice of both browsing and searching. So basically, they have the option to look through a lot of items and also search for anything specific they want. In a store this search engine is your employee who is helping the customer find the right product. At times, they cannot find the right items while searching manually and this leads to higher waiting time and dissatisfied customer. Integrating your retail management system with your LMS can bring all the information regarding the shelf, storage, and product details in one place which the employees can access with simple keyword search which is far more efficient. This reduces customer’s wait time replicating the online shopping experience helping your retail employees give a great experience to the buyer.

 

 

Keep Your Employees Motivated

 

According to National Retail Federation, the attrition rate in retail in USA is just above 60%, which is very high considering the overall average of 19%. Therefore, keeping your employees motivated to put in the extra effort is essential. An enterprise LMS provides you the opportunity to gamify the learning strategy for your retail employees. With easy integration with multiple business systems, you can give redeemable points to the employees based on their real-time KPI data, create leaderboards, and track the star performers. Getting recognized for one’s effort always makes them put in some extra.

To ensure the above you will have to invest significantly in developing and delivering training programs that can inculcate these habits and behaviours. However, that is not the final step, as the learning content has to be distributed along with follow-up trainings. Assessments and post-training support has to be delivered as well. To manage such a mammoth operation a learning management system which is equally effective on all the devices and is configurable to adapt to your organization’s culture is necessary.

 

 

G-Cube Learning Management Suite is being used by top retail industry players with positive results. To know more about the implementation strategies, write to us at info@gc-solutions.net and talk to a learning consultant.

Seamless Onboarding Solutions: From Surviving to Thriving

You just got done with the onboarding process of a great new employee after doing multiple rounds of screening and interviews. You are hopeful that this new addition will be an asset to the organization, and you might even get a thank you email from your manager.

 

You are happy that this employee has joined the organization. But after a few days you see the employee standing near the coffee machine, alone, and she doesn’t look happy!

 

You approach her, you smiled, she smirked!

 

You already know that all new hires face multiple unknowns and are probably anxious about what lies ahead, who will be on their team, and what kind of culture they will they be working in.

 

Did you know that 93% of employers agree that the quality of the onboarding process influences candidates’ decisions to stay in an organization? An effective introduction is key to avoiding early communication barriers and enabling long-lasting relationships.

 

What do your new hires want?  

 

Generally, new hires want to feel a part of the company as soon as possible. They start out with the intention of supporting your company’s vision, but unless they connect with the rest of the organization, they won’t.

 

In the age of digital onboarding some remote operations can prevent a new employee from developing a proper feel for the company.

 

The things that make a difference are:

1. Culture clarity
2. Clarity of expectations
3. Sense of belonging
4. Policies and other mandates

How To Help New Team Members Fit In

 

Immerse them into the culture and communicate their purpose in your company!

 

When this strategic initiative is crafted for a customized experience capable of addressing new hire hesitations, it becomes an excellent onboarding program. The efficient pre-onboarding, induction, and post-onboarding phases not only encourage new hires to explore the company further but also assist them to actively engage with the corporate vision and culture.

 

Before we dig in, a note—every organization will onboard differently. The key is to make sure that your unique onboarding process complements the company and provides opportunities to develop culture awareness. We recommend cognitive-friendly content for new hires.

 

Culture

 

A robust onboarding process starts even before an employee is hired. An engrossing organizational history that shows the growth phase in which new hires are joining, the organizational structure, and key team member involvement will help new hires settle into their positions.

 

An initiative such as multiple avatar options that introduce your organization virtually promotes diversity.

 

A virtual treasure hunt designed to explore hidden facts on culture, compliance, and policies involves the new hires and they learn sub-consciously.

 

Discussing key competencies and sharing other employee’s success stories encourages them to replicate crucial behaviors. It is always a good idea to highlight the most positive parts of your culture, such as, for example, your open-door policy.

 

Expectations

 

Providing new employees with clear expectations for their roles and responsibilities, key result areas (KRAs), required behaviors, and standard operating procedures will help them greatly.

 

Onboarding should have meaningful, engaging, and customized content linked to the employee’s KRAs. The content should suit all learning styles.

 

Impress your new hires with the best experience that utilizes custom content regarding location, department, profile, and desired workflow. This swiftly introduces them to your brand in a unique way.

 

Utilize microlearning as a best friend at work, which can help them access required information, so your new hires never feel lost. There can be tips on how to use technology, your platform, and any other information required to do their jobs.

 

It is also important to share emergency contact numbers, single point of contact details, and contact information for the key members of their team.

 

Sense of Belonging

 

Since a lot of information about the company is presented to new hires, regular two-way communication will help them feel they belong. Engaging interactions that communicate welcoming happen in great places to work.

 

Providing new hires with opportunities to interact with their teams, express themselves, and ask questions as well as making them feel valued will encourage them to want to contribute to the overall success of your organization. Things like chatbots, fun quizzes, flipped classes, and micro mobile content can be used for this purpose.

 

Introducing a multi-player activity in induction programs enables social learning and acts as a great relationship building platform for anyone joining your organization.

 

Policies and Other Mandates

 

Create an impactful introduction to company policies and guidelines for your new employees. It will not only make them want to adhere but also revisit the policies to stay compliant.

 

If new hires get inducted correctly, it will boost their morale. The principles and science of learning understand the knowledge, skill, and behavior requirements of your employees. Utilizing this science in the best way to deliver a cognition-friendly onboarding experience is the need of the hour. Blend it to connect people with love and empathy.

 

Your new hires want to fit into your organization. Contact G-Cube today to make your new hire process the very best it can be.

Share on facebook Share on linkedin Share on twitter Customer Service – Solutions to Stay Upbeat

Customer expectations are reaching new heights, and poor customer service can cost a fortune.

The way in which a customer is treated, communicated with, and valued can make a significant difference. It is a crucial element that can distinguish one brand from another.

 

 

What does the future of customer service look like?

 

Traditionally, people did business or bought products based on brand, image, and price, but now it is very much about the experience. Any transaction, whether it is with people, products or in business, is judged on the value associated with the experience.

 

Customer Experience

Understanding the customer is a major factor. A recent survey by PWC suggests that, in the last six months, consumer behavior has evolved significantly.

 

The feel-good factor is important, and strategies should include all modes of communication, such as chat-bot, messages, email, and notifications. Customers happily pay more for a product if they feel they have had a pleasant experience.

 

Customer support should not be an afterthought. A highly impactful customer base can be developed by providing great products accompanied by great customer service.

 

 

Technology as an Enabler

Companies collect the most relevant data when they can utilize and decode customer information to improve their goods or services.

 

Technology alone cannot necessarily solve the problem, but it can provide these essential elements: Speed. Convenience. Consistency. Friendliness.

 

Emotionally Connected and Safe Experiences

Seventy-one percent of Americans would rather interact with a human than a chatbot or some other automated process – PwC.

 

This new standard of expectation has also seen a shift in values. Customers want a safe experience in their transactions and interactions, and this can be seen as an opportunity to develop stronger and more meaningful relationships.

 

 

How can you make this work?

 

Simply by enabling your staff.

 

But how do we get it right?

 

Despite recent global upheavals, some things remain constant in customer service and experience—’building trust’ and ‘human connection’.

 

The first step would be to treat our internal stakeholders as our prime customer. Thus, business strategies and priorities focusing on customer service representatives, especially the frontline staff, will contribute significantly.

With an ability to communicate kindly and clearly, they can have a considerable impact on the business with cross-selling and up-selling.

 

 

Solutions to stay upbeat

 

Knowledge

Customers would not be happy with a service if they felt that the representative lacked knowledge. A knowledgeable employee should sound confident, be able to resolve issues and combat difficult customer interactions.

 

To empower your prominent stakeholders:

1. Provide them with handy guides, such as a quick-fix negotiation guide or a conversation guide in the appropriate format, as well as learning nuggets, including just-in-time modules, reference guides, etc.
2. Provide them a centralized knowledge base with learning resources acting as a kiosk constantly available from any device.
3. Teach them with an engaging learning strategy to make training enjoyable and engaging, including tools such as animations and interactions, explainer videos, demonstration videos, and other interactive videos.
4. Have knowledge-sharing sessions with top performers to improve competence.

 

Skills

Organizations need to nurture their employees’ digital, cognitive, social and emotional, and adaptability and resilience skill sets. Many customers have struggled during the pandemic, and a little empathy can help them feel good.

 

The ever-evolving skill-based training and the current challenges require companies to proactively create strategies that enable development in four areas:

1. Basic digital skills to understand the organization’s ecosystem, critical technology, and processes.
2. Life skills such as adaptability and resilience to drive this experiential shift.
3. Situational empathy skills to combat disruptions caused by the pandemic.
4. Cognitive skills to further enhance and prepare for a self-reliant environment.

 

Awareness

To be prepared for the dynamic role of customer service, we must equip team members with information and technology, so they are able to assist the customer in their best capacity.

1. Prepare the team for positive customer experiences with virtual reality learning solutions that mirror real-life situations.
2. Provide guided training modules with challenges that allow learners to realize, decide, and get feedback on responses.
3. Prepare for high-quality solution-oriented customer service that acts as an agent for behavioral change.
4. Provide reinforcement sessions to boost positive customer service habits and behaviors.

 

Make sure your employees are aware and understand that they are empowered. Reach out to G-Cube to discover excellent solutions for customer service.

Deploying Gamified Corporate E Learning Platform for Retail Sector

Empowering Workforce and Engaging Customers

With the changing economy and ever-evolving consumer needs, the retail industry needs to have a competent workforce to thrive in today’s market. As retail is a more people-centric domain, it must keep the focus on the diversified workforce, which include channel partners, distributors, franchisees, and others. Therefore, the implementation of a corporate e learning platform becomes significant to drive employee engagement, business productivity, and overall customer satisfaction. Retail companies face challenges while performing day-to-day operations, so it is crucial to train employees about the latest products and processes. They deploy the new-age and customizable gamified corporate LMS to engage maximum learners, boost collaboration, and overall knowledge retention.

With technological advancement, retail organizations are shifting towards delivering game-based corporate e learning solutions. Modern LMS for retail workforce training caters to diverse training goals which include:

• Onboarding- To train recruits on industry's policies and norms, thereby reducing employee attrition rates and improving business productivity.
  
• Compliance training- To keep employees updated with regulatory compliances and workplace safety, thereby improving retention levels.
  
• Product training- To train sales employees on the latest products and services, thereby improving overall sales and customer satisfaction.

Why Choose Gamified Corporate E Learning Platform? 

Modern LMS delivers gamified corporate eLearning solutions to meet pertinent training goals such as sales enablement, compliance training, onboarding, and others. Games engage and encourage retail workforce by providing the following benefits:

• New hire training

The retail industry deploys game-based corporate learning platforms for an effective onboarding experience. Modern LMS incorporates the gamification feature to engage and update new hires with the company's policies, products, customer handling, and other processes. Short quizzes, video nuggets, and interactive scenarios are introduced in the game to aid employees in addressing complex situations for successful onboarding of new hires.

• Compliance training

The delivery of game-based compliance training motivates employees to undergo mandatory training sessions and remain updated. Consequently, it helps the retail sector to address significant challenges such as health & safety, money handling, regulations, and so on. Unlike boring classroom training, the game-based e-learning environment creates a fun-filled experience for all, thereby improving overall engagement, knowledge retention, and driving business growth.

• Sales training

It is a significant concern for retail companies to deliver a personalized training experience for customers. So, it becomes crucial to adequately train the sales workforce on the latest products and services, even on the go. Corporate e learning platforms support gamification features (badges and levels) to familiarize sales employees about new products and foster customer relationships.

With the continuous development of the retail industry, it is essential to have a modern corporate e learning platform at the place. Ultimately, the delivery of gamified LMS solutions helps to reduce employee attrition, boost sales, drive workforce performance, and increase ROIs.

Significance of Corporate E Learning Platform

Significance of Corporate E Learning Platform for Startups and Enterprises

Whether it is a retail, automobile, healthcare, aviation, or any industry, training the workforce through corporate e learning platform is a viable option. Using the new-age eLearning platform, organizations (enterprises, startups, etc.) leverage benefits of mitigating costs and risks associated with traditional learning. You can choose the best learning management system (LMS) as per the personalized training needs and diverse audience profiles. Based on the specific industry requirement, the LMS provides training on different topics- be it compliance, sales enablement, human resources, soft skills, onboarding, and more.

E Learning Platform for Startups and Enterprises

The effective delivery of online training programs helps to boost overall levels of workforce participation, knowledge retention, and organizational performance. From employee development to training the extended workforce (partners, suppliers, resellers, customers, etc.), online learning platforms help L&D teams on this. Also, automated reporting and performance tracking features make enterprise LMS a perfect platform to deliver corporate training. Are you looking for the best elearning platform which caters to the ever-evolving needs of modern workforce and improves overall training impact? If yes, then the selection of the most appropriate corporate e learning platform may depend on the diverse training requirements of a startup company or an enterprise, as discussed below:

• Startup companies

Startups utilize modern e learning platform which supports features such as gamification and augmented reality to engage maximum employees, boost retention, and drive business growth. These include small businesses which want to deliver an incredible learning experience for all. Startup organizations are gradually shifting towards using cloud-based LMS- flexible, accessible, and affordable, without involving any initial installation or deployment costs.

• Enterprises

Today, enterprises adopt e learning approach to improve workforce engagement, knowledge retention, reduce training costs, and increase ROIs. They deliver custom e-learning solutions through modern enterprise learning management systems. Based on the pertinent learning need, enterprises organize internal/external workforce training programs on sales, onboarding, soft skills, compliance, and other topics. In today’s digital era, enterprises the benefits of LMS features which include mobile learning, gamification, rapid authoring, assessment engine, augmented reality (AR), personalization, automated learning delivery, skill-gap analysis, social learning, virtual classroom, and more. 


To effectively train your employees, ensure they are skilled and compliant, it is crucial to invest in a robust corporate e learning platform. Amongst the most popular eLearning platforms available in the market, you can select the one that best suits your individual and organizational needs. So, even if the modern e learning platform serves a gamut of benefits, the path to driving optimal training outcomes varies for startups and enterprises.